Falcon Cancellations Drag Down Dassault’s 1H Results

Dassault Aviation this morning reported a negative order intake for the first half of this year due to Falcon business jet order cancellations. While the company logged €900 million ($1.28 billion) in Falcon sales in the first half, down slightly from the €1.1 billion ($1.56 billion) recorded in the same period last year, business jet order cancellations far exceeded sales. Thus, Dassault’s consolidated orders for the first six months was -€1.13 billion (-$1.5 billion), compared with €2.39 billion ($3.4 billion) in the year-ago period. Its order backlog–including both civil and defense orders–stood at €14.55 billion ($20.67 billion) as of June 30, down from the €17.06 billion ($24.23 billion) reported on December 31 last year. The France-based manufacturer unusually did not break down order numbers between its civil and military businesses, citing “commercial and competition-related reasons.” Twenty-six Falcons were delivered in the first half of this year, versus 34 in the same time last year. Despite the weak first half of the year, Dassault said it is still committing resources to develop the Falcon 900LX and the super-midsize Falcon SMS.